Safety restraining post attachment for high chair



March 12, 1957 MADSEN 2,784,775

SAFETY RESTRAINING POST ATTACHMENT FOR HIGH CHAIR Filed May 4, 1954 Fig.3 g2 2s Efhe/MMadsen INVENTOR.

BY nw z w United States Patent SAFETY RESTRAININ G POST ATTACHMENT FOR HIGH CHAIR Ethel M. Madsen, Sharp Park, Calif.

Application May 4, 1954, Serial No. 427,532

2 Claims. (Cl. 155189) The present invention relates to an attachment for the seat portion of a high chair, said attachment being characterized essentially by what is herein referred to as a safety restraining post, that is, a handy and convenient short post which is adapted to underlie the customary tray and which functions as a guard in that it prevents the occupant of the chair from leaving, as is often done, by way of the space existing between the tray and seat.

It will be clear from the preceding general statement of the nature of the invention that safety devices which are for occupant restraining purposes are not new. As a matter of fact, the present invention has to do primarily with improvements upon Patent No. 2,630,856 granted to me under date of March 10, 1953. Embodied in the patent disclosure, the attachment phase thereof, is an elongated collar which constitutes a so-called adapter base. This collar has a flat bottom and is adapted to rest against the adjacent flat surface of the usual or conventional high chair seat and it is provided at one end with a hole. A bolt extends centrally through the post and through and beyond the collar and the post is a tapered portion fitting into the hole, said bolt being provided on its free end with an assembling and clamping nut and there being a dowel pin eccentric to said bolt and carried by the base and depending below the fiat bottom to prevent sidewise movement of the collar relative to a slot which is necessarily formed in the chair bottom or socalled seat.

It has been found that it is quite possible to change the patented construction in such a way that the slot, which is sometimes objectionable, is entirely eliminated. It is, therefore, an object of the instant invention to improve upon the above patent and any other similar prior art adaptations by utilizing a readily applicable and removable clamp which applies to the seat and which is so constructed that it constitutes an appropriate foundation and retainer for the cooperating readily attachable and detachable restraining post.

More specifically, novelty is predicated on an attaching bracket which takes the form of a substantially U-shaped clamp. This clamp is slid on the seat so that the arms straddle the seat after which it is fastened in place by setscrews. The post is grooved and the grooved portion thereof is slidably and detachably mounted on the upper arm of the clamp.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a conventional high chair with the legs fragmentarily shown and with the improved restraining attachment applied and ready for use.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of an exploded-type which shows the essential elements which go to make up the overall restraining attachment.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section of the attachment on the seat.

Z,784,7 Patented Mar. 12, 1957 Figure 4 is a view at right angles thereto which is taken on the irregular vertical line 4-4 of Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the drawing the high chair is referred to generally in Figure l by the numeral 6. This has a seat 8, arm rests 10--10 and a vertical back rest 12 and supporting legs 14. This is, therefore, a representation of any suitable high chair. Of late, high chairs have come on the market which are provided often with metal bottoms. In many instances there is a cushion on the bottom. It was therefore found impracticable to always provide a slot to accommodate the attachment as was called for in the afore-mentioned Patent No. 2,630,856. Here, in order to accommodate the type of bottom or seat shown at 8 as well as the metal type with or without cushioning means, a suitable readily applicable and removable U- shaped adapter bracket is provided and this is denoted by the numeral 16. It is of general U-shaped form and formed from a single piece of metal which is preferably channel-shaped in cross-section. It includes therefore an upper horizontal elongated arm 18 which parallels and overlies the seat and which has an elongated slot 20 at one end. It also includes a shorter arm 22 which underlies the bottom side of the seat and which has holes 24 therein to accommodate the insertable and removable set screws 26-26. There is, in addition, a bight or connecting portion 28 which takes over the forward edge of the seat in the manner illustrated. This sort of an adapter bracket takes care of almost any type of high chair known to me and it also provides a strong and reliable hold-down anchor device for the complemental restraining post 30. The post is preferably of wood and in shape is balanced and ornamental and sort of represents the tip of an airplane wing. It preferably has a vertical linearly straight inner edge portion 32, a forwardly and downwardly inclined edge portion 34 and a rounded crown or top por-- tion 36. The opposite vertical side is substantially smooth and flat as denoted at 3838 in Figure 4. The bottom 40 is also substantially flat and this rests partly on and in contact with the high chair seat. This bottom is provided with a channel or keyway which is denoted by the numeral 42 and which is closed at one end as at 44 and open at its forward end as at 45. This channel slips over the key forming arm 18 and a screw 46 passes upwardly through slot 20 and into the hole provided therefor as as 48 in the post.

The adapter bracket is easily applied and clamped in position and because of the space between the upper and lower arms it will accommodate various seat thicknesses. The post itself is readily applicable to and removable from the upper keying arm and securely held in place.

The over-all attachment is neat, practical, safe and reliable. It is something which, it is believed, aptly serves the intended needs of manufacturers and users.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will. readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An attachment for the seat of a high chair comprising an adapter bracket of U-shaped form having, in combination, an upper long arm, a lower shorter arm and a bight portion connecting corresponding ends of the respective arms, said lower arm being provided with setscrews, said upper arm having an elongate slot therein, a restraining post having a groove in its bottom, said 3 groove being closed at one end and open at the other end and providing a keyway, said upper arm constituting a key and being keyed in said keyway, and a screw passing through the slot in the upper arm and into the adjacent cooperating bottom portion of said, post.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, and wherein said upper arm is channel-shaped in cross-section and also of a cross-section equal to that of said bottom groove, the bottom of the channel thereof opening downwardly, the stated slot being provided in the web portion of said channel.

References Gited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES. PATENTS Tarbuck May 14, Berkey July 10, Lowe May 5, Locklin Aug. 11, Hawthorne et al. Feb. 11, Johnson Mar. 21, Hilton Jan. 9, Wolf Dec. 26, Ashman Apr. 24, Davis Apr. 7, 

